Bleeding Out
by astridelta
Summary: Naruto thinks he's about to die, and Sasuke wants to beat him up the whole time it's happening. What does Sasuke do that saves Naruto's life? AU rated T for coarse language.
1. Bleeding out

Just a short Sasunaru one-shot. This is AU even though I love canon, so sorry :)

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God dammit. Why couldn't getting shot be anything like it was in the movies? The bullet goes through, you fall down, you die.

Yeah. Because that totally is how it happens. I know this...because there's bullets implanted in my thigh, shoulder, and possibly stomach too but I can't tell because it FUCKING HURTS.

And then there was how I even ended up slumped against the brick wall outside of my apartment building bleeding into the snow below me in the first place. This situation would probably get a laugh out of Kiba and Shikamaru, because everyone knows I'm a genius when it comes to getting in sucky situations. Well it wasn't exactly my fault that two local gangs were having a shoot-out and I just MANAGED to get caught in the cross-fire right? Simply walking home from the grocery store with two bags stuffed with instant ramen is apparently a crime in this neighborhood, not that I'm complaining. Not everyone is worthy of the glory of ramen. Especially not that bastard Sasuke.

Sasuke.

Wasn't I supposed to go hang with him and Sakura later tonight? Grab a movie from the Redbox outside of Walgreens and study...yeah. I remember now. High school exams are coming up...Damn, I shouldn't have tried to move my foot. My whole fucking leg needs to be amputated from the feel of it, and right now I really just want to sleep. Besides, there's this wet sticky thing under me that is getting on my nerves, and it is REALLY uncomfortable. Wait a minute, what's that on my nose? Oh, lovely. It's snowing. Just from the feel of it, because my eyelids are too heavy, I swear they're made of cinderblocks or something right now and I just want to sleep, I am so tired...

But wait...

If I sleep outside, what'll happen to my ramen? I don't really expect anyone to take it because, well, it's MINE and pretty much anyone who knows me (which is roughly the entire block) knows not to fuck around with my ramen. But it's still warm from the grocery store and I was hoping to eat about eight bowls before I went over to Sasuke's place...Shit, what is that pounding in my pocket? Feels like a freaking earthquake, and thank whatever powers that be that my phone wasn't in the pocket of the leg I had been shot in because believe me, if trying to move my freaking TOES was a pain in the ass, this would be on a totally different level. I can guess who this is calling right now anyway. Ah, there's my suspicion confirmed, thanks to this stupid app that let's voicemails be played even when the fucking phone is locked.

"Hey dobe, you were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. Where are you? Sakura is getting edgy and I blame you if she trashes my place." Well sorry if I ruin your night, Mr. My-house-needs-to-damn-spotless. Don't let my bleeding out and dying get in the way of your perfection, you freaky OCD maniac. Man, I crack myself up. I'd laugh if my mouth didn't feel like I had a gag around my head, and my shoulder is really aching so probably not the best idea to begin with. Shit, I think I hit my head when I went down too, there's some wet sticky thing on my forehead too, and I just noticed that it feels like some dwarves are mining diamonds in my brain.

How did I miss THIS?

And I realized this too, and maybe dying gives people some sort of philosophical perspective that they don't normally have but, I don't even feel like I'm living anymore. Like, my soul or whatever is leaving and it's fucking creepy. I mean, I still had so much I wanted to do in life, you know? Open a world-renowned ramen shop, or be a hot-shot basketball player. Being on varsity this year gave me the idea anyways. And my friends. Kiba, the dog loving freak, he was going to come with me to college, not that I even considered that shit yet. It's December and I'm only a Junior. His girlfriend Hinata, the pristine little sister of my circle of friends, man is it gonna suck if- no, _when _she finds out I'm dead. She won't come out of her room for days I bet, not that Kiba would be any better. He'd probably be worse, cuddling up with Akamaru the steroid dog and sobbing all night. I already know what Ino and Sakura would do and trust me, it won't be pretty. Shikamaru and Gaara, man I wish I knew what they were thinking. It would make this whole_ imagining what's going to happen after I die _thing a lot smoother...Choji? Hah, he's going to bring a fucking roast to my funeral and munch away during the speeches. I can see it now, and it's not that hard considering the blackness that's covering the blackness that was _already there_, but hey, I guess another perk of dying is you don't have to look up at the sky and think about if you'll be up there soon.

Fuck, this hurts. Dying isn't doing anything to lessen the aches in the various parts of my body. If anything, it's amplifying them so much I'd cry if I could move my eyelids.

I'm not going to cry no matter what though. I'm no pussy and I certainly don't plan on changing that view moments before I die. Anyways, then there's Shino, again another silent sulking kid. How do I manage to make friends with those kind of people? I can sort of imagine him bringing a box of dead butterflies to my funeral, saying some shit about how my soul is now one of them and is flying free around space or something at that very moment.

Ew.

Then Temari and Kankuro, Gaara's siblings. Hm, Kankuro would join Kiba in the sob-fest and Temari would...well, that bitch is hard to read to begin with so let's skip her. Ah, damn it, there just HAD to be a wind gust strong enough to shift my leg and shoulder? Thanks a lot, Nature! Way to kick a guy while he's down...man, I am a riot. I could've opened a comedy club too. You know, I guess I have been avoiding Sasuke, haven't I? Well, considering he's my best friend and all that jazz a person would think I'd have the way he'd act once he realizes I'm dead down to the way he'd take a breath or something after being told the news but to be honest...

I have no fucking idea.

I mean, he's like the Ice Prince. With a stick shoved up his ass. I barely know how he's going to react when I tell him I put a swarm of bees in Ms. Tsunade's car, so when he's being told I'm brain-dead how am I supposed to know? Eh, wait, is my phone ringing AGAIN? Doesn't this bastard realize I'm, oh, I don't know, _dying?_ Oh, wait, he can't. Duh. And then there's the voicemail. "Alright idiot. I'm coming over right now and if you're in your apartment I am going to kick your ass. Sakura is going nuts saying you got jumped or something. You had better have a good excuse for not coming over tonight." Click. Oh shit. No, no, no, don't come here! Okay, I can make all the jokes in the world about Sasuke and his prissy-ness, but when it comes to him actually FINDING MY DEAD BODY on the sidewalk I really don't want to deal with that. And Sakura really isn't that far off about the whole jumped thing...except it was two gangs shooting at each other. I'd much rather think I was apart of one of them and got shot protecting a comrade. Also, Sasuke wishes he could kick my ass. Just because he started one game more than me this season does not give him the right to be so stuck up...

But seriously, if Sasuke sees me like this and I'm still alive, this is gonna be bad.

Please God, sorry for not going to church for all these years, but please strike me with a bolt of lightning or something and make this end now. Please.

And my stomach hurts so fucking bad, I think I did get shot there, and damn does it hurt. And God doesn't answer me at all. There isn't even the fucking light that people say they see as they're dying, so that's total bullshit. Well, if you consider the streetlamp above my head the "light", then fine, but other than that my vision is somehow darker than the shirt I'm wearing right now. _Fuck, _please don't let Sasuke see me now. Please, please, please. I'm sorry for all that shit I pulled on the old hag, and the pervert Mr. Jiraiya and that one time I spray-painted the mayor's desk orange, please let me die now...

And yeah, I get it. Don't people normally beg to _live,_ not die? I'm a fucked up person, okay? Because if I live, then that just means I get to deal with THIS fucking pain longer and Sasuke's coming now and if he sees me I'm so fucked, you may as well shove a tree up my ass and call it a day. Damn, my leg hurts. I think there's more than one bullet there, and a few more in my shoulder and now that I really think about it, my back too, plus my head is still aching like the cows are coming home. And god dammit, can't Sasuke stop calling me? How long has it been since he called last anyways? Am I losing track of time or something? Yeesh, this dying thing really is a pain. Literally. I should go on Saturday night live.

"Alright Naruto, I am turning the fucking corner to your place right now and you had better be god-damn ready for me, because I am not fooling around." And there goes my chances of dying before he gets here. I'm assuming I can still count so, here we go. _Five..._

_Four..._

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One..._

"OH MY GOD! NARUTO!" ding ding ding. We have a winner. And the lucky fellow is..."Naruto, open your eyes! Shit...what happened?! Naruto!" Calm down, for god's sake. I can hear you, you know! Stop yelling! "Fuck, yes, my friend, damn, he's shot and I think he hit his head, please..." Nows not really the best time for a phone conversation bastard. "Please hurry!...God-dammit Naruto, can you hear me?!" Did I NOT just say I could, you deaf prick? Oh wait, this whole thing is going on in my head. Oh well, guess I should try letting you know I'm still around...

"Naruto, open your eyes! Don't you dare die on me..." I'm trying to open my eyes, in case you haven't noticed. It doesn't help anything when it feels like there's elephants sitting on my eyelids. But, somehow I manage to flick them up and the first thing I see is, not Sasuke's face, but the glaring light of the streetlamp I mentioned earlier. And if that isn't fucking bright I don't know what is. "Naruto! Naruto, look at me..." How am I supposed to when you're not even in my line of sight, bastard? I can't exactly move anything at the moment...and then my body feels like it's tilting down and it hurts like a motherfucker, but again I can't voice any of my complaints at the man-handling because my lips feel numb as ice in the North Pole. Ah, there he is and wait- is that, he can't be...crying? "Naruto!" Sasuke shouts again and I can indeed confirm to everyone that the great Sasuke Uchiha is indeed crying, and not just crying folks, but _sobbing _over my body. This is like, the event of the century. The millennium, even. People should be buying tickets to see this.

"Naruto, what the hell happened? Answer me?" he shouts again and I attempt to force a frown onto my lips because I don't want to die like an emotionless statue. That's Sasuke's job. I somehow force my lips to move and trust me, I think that's a feat unto itself. And the first dying words that leave my lips are..."My...ramen...where is...it..." Way to go Naruto. Going out with a bang, true Uzumaki style. A forced, sad smile is on Sasuke's face and a strained laugh comes from him. Good to know I'm still fucking hilarious and I hope I'm just as sexy with the blood on my head. "Naruto, don't die, please don't die dammit, hold on!" Sasuke whispers and one of his tears falls just under my eye; I can feel it splash onto my skin.

I do NOT want your tears on me while I'm dying, jerk.

Besides, aren't you supposed to be kicking my ass right now? Stop crying over me and hurry it up so I can die faster and be done with this.

"...S-sorry that I...'m...late..." Jesus Christ, how can I sound less pathetic? Why can't my last words be something heroic like, _"Take care of Sakura for me..." _or something. Not that we're together, it's just fun to make fun of her about it. And that humor certainly hasn't left me. Sasuke sounded like he choked on a sob. "No, don't be," he whispered and I think he wiped something from my face. Blood or tears, I can't decide. I choose tears because why the fuck should they be on me in the first place? I'm supposed to be the badass hero dying in glory...glory as in getting caught in a gang-fight. But beggars can't be choosers I guess. "_I'm _sorry I called you like that, if I knew, _fuck..._don't die Naruto, please." I'd love to comply bastard but I sort of have holes all over my body? I can't really stop myself from bleeding. "...Stop...crying...you look...like a girl..." Finally I say something worthy of being quoted, written in a book, and framed on the President's wall. Sasuke laughed again and tried to wipe his tears away and I noticed a fair amount of blood on the palm of his hand. I managed to catch a glimpse of his white polo shirt under his blue jacket as he moved and I saw more blood there too. I hope I'm not ruining his clothes like I apparently ruined his home. Prick.

"Naruto, the ambulance is almost here I think, please hang on-No, don't close your eyes Naruto! _LOOK AT ME!" _My eyelids are heavy, bastard. Let me rest them for a few minutes. Besides, I feel like I'm floating and it's nice, so just shut up..."...Naruto, fuck, please! I love you!" Woah. Woah woah woah, back up a little bit. Did I just hear that or is my oxygen-deprived brain making things up? Did Sasuke just say he _loves me?_ "I love you...stay, please..." Okay. I heard it.

Well, this changes things.

On one hand, I guess there's someone who thinks about me romantically and considering I haven't ever had a girlfriend- or boyfriend, apparently- it's sort of nice to die knowing it. But then again, it's _Sasuke. _And _again..._what's with this fluttering of my heart that I'm sure isn't it failing and letting me finally drift away? Wait...I don't...I can't...can I? "..I...l-love...you t...oo..." And now you've gone and done it Naruto. Guess you love a guy now hm? Shit, I'm never going to live this down- wait, of course I'm not. Again, I am such a card. "Naruto..." Sasuke's face is coming down way too close for comfort and I feel like this should be in some cheesy romance novel, except, wait, _I'm not the fucking girl in this am I?! _Oh, wait, his lips do feel nice...don't get me wrong, it does feel sort of right, his lips on mine, but..."Please don't die Naruto. Don't...don't leave me..."

I really want to sleep. But I think if I do...I won't wake up...

"...I...won't...I prom..ise..." I whisper and Sasuke smiles, his dark eyes still brimming with tears. Fuck, I just promised I wouldn't die and I don't go back on my word.

Ever.

So much for dying then, God. You can take that off your list, not that you had it on there to begin with considering you didn't make it go by faster. Well, now that I can assure my apparent boyfriend that I'm not going to the holy land, I can finally sleep...right?

I just hope that when I wake up Sasuke will be by my side like always, except now we can hold hands and face our futures together.


	2. Prince charming

Alright everyone, here it is. The long awaited second part to Bleeding Out is here! I've decided to make this story three to four chapters long, so for those of you who have been begging for a sequel, here ya go. Enjoy the SasuNaru love!

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Shit.

How could I have been so stupid? I should have gone straight to Naruto's apartment instead of listening to Sakura complain and whine for three hours. Three hours...Naruto was laying in the snow, bleeding to death, and I had the audacity to fucking call him.

Three hours where I didn't know what was happening to him.

At least I got to him in time...I can still see him, you know...as I was turning the corner to his apartment. I can see him laying under that streetlamp, slumped against a brick wall with blood all around him. Under his legs, dripping from his forehead, his lips...even while I sit here, in Konoha's hospital... and now I wonder, where the hell did they take him?!

"...Mr. Uchiha," someone says and I try my best to look up without tears in my eyes. I'll be damned if I let someone see me cry...except Naruto. Sort of forgot he's already seen that. He'll give me hell for something like that. If he's even still alive...

"Yes?" I ask and stand while wincing at the still damp blood on my shirt and hands. Mostly because I had held Naruto's hand in the ambulance on the way here, while paramedics all around me were shouting for God knows what, an oxygen mask was something I remember them putting over Naruto's mouth and nose with tubes running from his nostrils, making him look like some lab experiment...but its in the past now. I _need_ to know if Naruto is okay, if he's even alive..I notice that the doctor approaching me is none other than Shizune, a friend of Naruto's aunt and our Health teacher, and I can't help but feel scared at the worried expression her face is pulled into.

"Is he okay?" I demand and step forward as she pauses maybe a couple of feet in front of me. "Is he alive?! Dear God, please tell me he's alive..." Shizune sighs and closes her eyes. More tears fill my vision when she doesn't respond immediately and I know, I just know that the news I'm about to get is going to be awful.

"He is still in extensive surgery," Shizune tells me quietly. "What about his wounds," I continue in that awfully desperate tone I've taken on since I found him. "He was shot twice in the abdomen, once in his left thigh, where his artery was nearly severed...he also has a severe concussion, two bullets in his right shoulder, and one that nearly shattered his collarbone. It's...it's a miracle that he's still alive..."

I look away to the pale white floor that reflected the ceiling lights above my head. "Mr. Uchiha, I suggest you go home for now," Shizune says to me and I look back to see her worried expression become one of grief. "We'll call if anything changes." "I have to stay here!" I argue and try to follow the nurse as she turns to leave. I can't, I just can't leave Naruto here alone...

"He needs someone here, right? Someone to sign papers?" I ask as I follow Shizune, who is ignoring me pointedly...and I do not enjoy that. "He needs an adult for that, Sasuke," Shizune sighs and finally uses my name once we had left the waiting room, in a small hallway filled with wheelchairs, and racks of different fluid bags. The disinfectant smell is making me sick, and I feel like throwing up due to the sheer nothingness in this scent. "Jiraiya can sign them since he is Naruto's legal guardian. He's already on his way...just get some rest. It's a school night."

That's all she has to say to me? "It's a school night"?! That's complete bullshit if I've ever heard it! But I guess I should turn and just walk away before I start hitting the racks and kicking things...why can't these people in this goddamn waiting room stop staring at me. What the hell do I look like, some sort of freak show?! Is it because...I'm crying, even as I'm just walking away from where I know, I know Naruto is being cut open and stitched up like the rag dolls I've seen in Sakura's house...

And before you ask, no. Sakura and I aren't dating. Damn it, where's my phone...but yeah. She gave up trying to get with me last year, thank whatever powers that be. But that doesn't mean she isn't after...some other people. Ah, there's my phone. Gotta call Sakura and ask her to pick me up, I guess...

"Hello?" I ask and damn, does Sakura sound worried on the other end, judging from the heavy and quick breaths that are nearly blasting my eardrums out. Dammit girl, stop trying to make me deaf! "Are you okay?!" She screams on the other end, causing a bigger headache, and so I rub at my forehead to make it go away. "Yes...well...not really." There's no reason for me to lie when I'm just going to have to see her in person when I ask for a ride, yeah...?

"I heard there's a bunch of police cars and an ambulance at Naruto's apartment! Are you two alright?"

Hah, that's a funny question Sakura...

Of course we're not okay. Of course I'm not okay. The boy that I just confessed my love to could potentially die in the next few hours...

"I'm not hurt.." good job Sasuke, make her worry more. "What about Naruto," she demands and I breathe deeply. Is that smoke I smell? Oh, yeah, there's Asuma standing on the corner of the sidewalk, the smoke billowing with the snow into my face. Damn, how he can stand that smell is beyond me. Anyways...

"No," I whisper and I can almost imagine Sakura dropping the phone as I hear the impact in my ear. There's some crackling as she apparently picks the phone back up and I can hear her trying to hold back her own tears while my own are fighting their damnedest to get out. "H-how bad," she stutters and damn do I feel awful for not calling her sooner. "Uh...Shizune said that he has bullets in his abdomen, leg, a concussion and wounds in his shoulder and by his collarbone."

There's the shriek I was expecting as the phone is dropped, again. Please Sakura, for my sanity, keep a grip on your cellular device! Although I'm not one to judge, twice now I had dropped my wallet because I'm just pacing too fast in front of the hospital doors. I need to keep myself occupied somehow, yeah? "Oh my god!" Sakura nearly screams after she's picked up the phone again, after I had already managed to get far enough away from Asuma to not smell his cigarettes. Which are pretty fucking strong, mind you.

"Yeah...I...they say its a miracle he's alive," I manage to say, because I'm too busy looking at the hospital at the moment, thank you very much. "So...I need to ask you a favor." Sakura isn't responding and I want to make sure she's still consciousness before I ask for a ride home. "Huh? Oh...y-yeah, what..." Well, as long as she's able to speak she should be able to drive. "Can I have a ride home?" I ask. I wonder what time it is. It was around seven when I left to find Naruto...damn, I can't think about him right now, I can't!

But I still do anyways.

"Sure...are you at the h...the hospital?" Sakura stutters and for some reason I nod. "Yeah." I guess she agreed to give me a ride, because as soon as I speak the dial tone starts its monotone drone that never fails to annoy the crap out of me. Ow, I just fucking slipped on a piece of ice and rammed the side of my head into a leafless tree. Fuck nature.

More people are coming out of the hospital now, and the streetlights are coming on here. I guess its time for everyone who isn't an M.D. or a P.h.D to get out. Whatever, it's not like I'm cold anyways. Just because I somehow managed to lose my jacket while getting Naruto onto a stretcher and into the ambulance doesn't mean I'm going to become a fucking icicle. Still, there is a...slight chill...in the air. If you consider heavy snow a slight chill anyway. I certainly do.

There's still that metallic smell of blood on my hands. My fingers are coated in the stuff, the lines in my palms outlined by the crimson and I really just want to wash it off. I want to burn my hands, I want to fucking stick them in a barrel of toxic waste...I want to erase any trace that what just happened is real. Too bad I can't find anything except small piles of snow that are doing nothing to wash this away.

The cars that drive by now are not helping either. I can see them, the people in those cars and they look just as worried as I am, except they aren't covered in the blood of the person they love...

Love.

The word sounds so weird to me. Ever since...my brother went insane, I haven't, I _couldn't_ "love" anyone. Sakura keeps expecting me to find someone, hell, she thought she was someone for me but get real. Naruto is the only one who can truly make me laugh, when I'm having a bad day and when things feel like utter shit he's always there. Acting like a dumb ass and...just being there.

I can't even remember when I started to love him. It might have been when we first met, when we first fought...shit, there goes my phone again. Sakura must be close..."Hello?" I ask and am met with a sharp yell. "Is Naruto ok?!" Kiba shouts on the other line. Dammit dog breath, calm down! "How did you know?" Kiba is breathing heavily like Sakura was. Is that just some sort of natural reaction or something? It's fucking annoying.

"Sakura mass texted everyone bastard. Is he gonna be ok?"

I'm trying my best to make sure I rub my forehead as I pace. "I dunno," I say and fuck, I nearly slipped on ice again! "The nurse said Jiraiya will have to sign papers for him and shit if..." Dammit, I can't even say it aloud. "If what," I hear Kiba demand. "You know what I mean!" I shout and right now I really want to punch something. Preferably the fucking dog lover if he were here right now.

"Are you staying at the hospital overnight?" What a fucking dumb question, but I guess it's to be expected since it's coming from Kiba. "No," I grind out as I clench my teeth. I really don't want to yell and end up waking half the city. "I'm waiting for Sakura to come give me a ride..."

"Oh."

For once dog breath is quiet. I guess he's just in shock about this as I was, except he didn't have to find Naruto half dead on the side of the road. That kind of affects people. And there's Sakura red Ford truck, headlights blazing through the snow and blinding me..."Gotta go," I mutter. "Sakura's here." I don't even bother to listen to Kiba complain as I press the end call button while she pulls to the curb.

"It's fucking cold..." At least the inside of the truck is warm-oh shit. Sakura's crying again. Please stop crying...I don't want to cry too dammit..."He's still in there?" She whispers. I nod, because what else am I supposed to do? "And they said we can't wait for him?" No shit sherlock. I got fucking kicked out the door. "Visiting hours are over apparently," I reply. She sighs and takes the car out of park. I really wish I was driving myself right now...

"I called Jiraiya and Ms. Tsunade," Sakura says. It's been twenty minutes and thirty two seconds since we left the hospital, and I don't think she even knows where she's going. Maybe she's just driving aimlessly to make sure I stay in the car longer. I dunno. "He's on his way to the hospital I think. Ms. Tsunade will let Principal Hiruzen know Naruto...is gonna be out for a while."

I hate how my throat goes dry at that statement. I don't want Naruto "out for a while". I want him back, I want him in my arms dammit! But I just nod, and the snow hitting the passanger window is the only thing keeping me from utter boredom and instead making me fall asleep.

Ugh, what is that poking my shoulder. Go away dammit, I'm trying to sleep! "Sasuke," Sakura whispers. Shit, I'm home aren't I. Yup, there it is, the one story wooden house in the middle of fucking no-where. "Thanks." I'm opening the door and my foot is barely touching the frost covered ground Sakura, get your hand off of my shoulder! "Sasuke...maybe we should, I dunno, take a few days off of school?" Sakura's question is stupid enough to rival the one Kiba asked earlier.

"We can't afford that," I reply and now I'm fully out of the car, so close to shutting the door...fuck, Sakura, get your hand off of the handle! "I know I can't concentrate knowing Naruto's...there," she's whispering again. I know she's right; I definitely won't be able to pay attention in class. If anything, I'll be the "depressed emo kid" that Naruto often labels me with...shit, I just thought of him.

These next few days are gonna suck.

"How long do you plan on skipping?" I'm asking, but for some reason I feel like she's truly skipping to get out of finals this week. Not that I care, I know I can pass without studying once; I just memorize the entire sheet and that's that..."just three days," Sakura replies. I guess that's reasonable. If Naruto does...live through the night...we'll have three days to visit him.

And if not...

Three days to mourn by ourselves is a huge blessing, I guess.

I nod and now I just want to go inside and go to sleep. I can barely see five feet in front of me because my vision is so blurry and I feel dizzy with sleep. I can't even remember Sakura leaving while I shakily unlock my front door- I guess she had locked it when she left my house- and I don't even bother to turn on the lights...shit, I nearly hit my hip on the couch...

Almost to my bedroom, and I think I'm just going to pass out on the floor instead. So much more comfortable. No, that isn't right. I have to get back up and open the door, again not even turning the lights on- ah, my mattress feels nice...

Naruto's been in here once before...

The last thing I remember thinking about is that kiss I had with Naruto after I had found him. And as cheesy as it sounds, it's like I was Prince Charming, and he was Sleeping Beauty.

I just hope true love's kiss is enough to keep him alive.


	3. Butterflies

This doesn't feel like real life. This has to be some sort of nightmare.

I'm barely pulling out Sasuke's driveway and the tears are already flowing down, they're hot and they sting and they cover my vision. I wouldn't be surprised if I cause an accident because I'm crying so much. I can read my tombstone now; _"Sakura Haruno. Killed by crying." _Of course, I'm not that stupid. At least the lights of the approaching cars are enough to keep me awake while I'm driving my red pickup truck that my dad bought me for my sixteenth birthday.

But now I'm at a red light on an empty country road, and there's nothing stopping me of thinking of _him_. Naruto. Just a little over five hours ago, Sasuke and I had been sitting in his living room, binders in hand as we waited for Naruto to show up with that dvd from Walgreens and begging to look off of our study materials since he would have forgotten them...but he never did.

Sasuke was furious, I can definitely recall that. He was constantly pacing and rubbing at his forehead and I suppose I wasn't doing much better at the time either. I was pissed at Naruto for being late. How was I supposed to know he was freaking bleeding out on the side of the road! I guess, though, Sasuke also seemed worried. He kept glancing at the clock and the door and muttering to himself...

Ugh, my eyelids feel so heavy. It's like I've been drugged and shit, the light is changing from blood red to artificial green, then I'm slamming my foot down on the gas pedal. The engine is making a roaring noise loud enough to make the dead rise and it's enough make my own ears ache as I'm speeding down the road. Twenty...thirty...forty, fifty miles an hour and I'm quickly approaching sixty. I just want to get home...and go to sleep. Maybe this is all a dream. You know? One of those nightmares that are so real you need someone else to wake you from it.

But so far my parents are either so cruel they're letting me endure this, or it's real. I am desperately hoping it's not. Even as I'm reaching a four-way and I switch my right turn signal on despite no other cars coming from any direction around me. Turning the corner, my eyes divert to the console by my stick shift for a split second and I see _it_. The love letter Naruto had stuffed in my locker in sixth grade.

Why am I smiling at the memory? I remember I was so mad at him for trying to take me away from "my Sasuke", who now that I think about it, was more annoyed by my antics than Naruto's. I was so foolish back then. I don't even know how the faded orange envelope with my name scrawled in thin writing as close to the center of the paper as was apparently attainable had gotten into one of my cup holders. I must have had it in one in one of my binders or something when I was going to Sasuke's place. Probably my biology binder...

Because that was the class that Naruto and I had together, alone. The only one that didn't have myself, Sasuke, and him in it. I know they have Algebra together, but I'm in pre-cal so I guess I shouldn't be upset by the fact that I can't have an extra forty-five minutes with Naruto. Oh, wait, if he doesn't live through tonight...I'll never have _any_ time with Naruto again. No, no Sakura. Don't cry. No more tears until we are off of the road...but home is just so far away. And I'm so tired I can barely think straight.

I suppose you could call my crush on Naruto nothing more than a fleeting school-girl's fantasy. But honestly, my crush on Sasuke was a school-girl's fantasy. I knew from the moment I saw him I never had a chance...and yet I still chased him. Part of it, I guess, was just so I would have something to look forward to everyday. Sasuke, Naruto, and I have been friends since fourth grade, and it was just a habit that I fell into where I would shove Naruto away in favor of being close to Sasuke.

I even made scrapbooks dedicated to small, mostly insignificant trinkets Sasuke had given me. I really was a pathetic young girl who thought she was head over heels in love, I suppose. An eraser for the time I pretended not to have one in sixth grade, a keychain that he (and Naruto, now that I recall) had gotten for me on my fifteenth birthday with all three of our first initials carved into a small silver oval. I see that locket shining in the light of an approaching car on my wrist. But there's still one thing that Sasuke gave me that I value more than this keychain.

He gave me his friendship, and I suppose that's better than nothing.

Naruto, however, is another matter. I laugh quickly...but then I feel my grin fall into a frown as I come up to another traffic light, a line of easily fifteen cars backed up from the front all the way to where I am now. There's lights from apartment buildings shining into my car, and people are lining the sidewalks on either side of my car...there's no street sign to tell me where I am, and I look down at my phone to see I only have five percent battery left on the thing. Damn iPhone.

Oh well, back to Naruto I guess. He's bought me...countless things since the fourth grade. Candy, clothes, he even bought me tickets to my favorite band once! I never used them though, my parents wouldn't let me. The concert was too far away, apparently. But there's also something that Naruto got me that I treasure almost as much as Sasuke's, admittedly begrudging, friendship. On Naruto's fourteenth birthday, Sasuke and I had taken him to a beautiful public garden just outside of town.

His uncle had been out of town on that week, and Sasuke had made the suggestion to take Naruto there since he's always had this weird obsession with gardening. I'm sure that if he didn't live in an apartment, and in a house instead, he'd be spending all his time outside and in the dirt. Anyways, we had been walking through a butterfly observatory. Well, Naruto and I had been, we had to almost drag Sasuke inside of it. I still remember the annoyed look on his face the entire time we were in there...

And as we passed by the gift shop, Naruto had looked inside, then let out what I can only describe as a...squeal. He had shouted that he would be right back and ran inside, while Sasuke and I looked at each other. He had arched an eyebrow while I rolled my eyes, thinking Naruto had just found something that he liked and wanted one of us to buy it for him. Although, it was his birthday, Sasuke and I would have tried to buy the entire garden if Naruto asked us to.

Instead, he came back to us with a crystal jar in his hands, and inside of it was a small carved pink butterfly with black tips on its wings. Small pieces of fake grass waved in the water that it was inside of, and Naruto shook it quickly to show off the sparkling bits of confetti inside of it. I remember asking him if he wanted us to buy it for him. He had shaken his head and held it out...to me. He had said "I bought it for you" and insisted I take it. To this day, that snow globe is the last thing I see before I fall asleep at night.

I still punched him for wasting his own money on his birthday though.

Still, despite what I would say, or threaten, to Naruto, I was and am genuinely grateful for his...endless devotion. I wish I had realized sooner that I want to return that kindness...

This traffic has hardly moved at all. I really want to get out of my car, walk up to the front of the line and demand to know what the hold up is, and in fact I'm just opening my car door...shit! I know where I am...

This is Naruto's neighborhood.

My throat feels really dry and I can already guess why the traffic has stopped. Now my tired mind registers the police lights flashing from up ahead and the yellow tape that barricaded the sidewalks in front of me. There was an investigation underway, and I didn't want to be anywhere near it. No thank you. I can see through my rearview mirror that I'm still the last car in line, thank Jesus. I'm putting my car in reverse and backing away...

Now I'm just driving on these back roads again. My eyes glance at the monitor above the radio. Shit, how did one o' clock come so fast?! I can't make it home. I know I can't, I'm just too tired. Is that a parking lot over there? Yup, the bike shop set next to it is closed, and I guess that I can wake up before the opening time of eight thirty...so now I just need to text my dad on the three percent I have left on my phone and let him know where I am...

Now I can sleep, and pray that Naruto is still alive when I wake up. But I'm not falling asleep to the sight of his butterfly...

* * *

I'm sorry this is so short! I thought of this on the spur of the moment and...it wasn't as long as I thought it would be. :( next chapter will be back to Naruto again though, it'll also be the last chapter! Reviews are much appreciated and they help a certain fan fiction writer keep her inspiration high for writing more stories. Anyways, ciao~!


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